UK announces higher fees for employers sponsoring skilled foreign workers

The Home Office has announced a significant increase in the Immigration Skills Charge, impacting the hiring of foreign workers by UK firms.

Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) is paid by employers sponsoring skilled foreign workers and reinvested in domestic workforce training.

The Home Office has announced that the Immigration Skills Charge for UK companies will be increased by 32%.

UK firm has to pay an additional charge when it assigns a Certificate of Sponsorship to someone applying for a Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker visa. This is called the ‘immigration skills charge’.

The purpose of raising the ISC is to deter UK firms from hiring foreign workers because doing so will increase their costs.

Currently, for medium or large sponsors, the ISC is £1,000 for the first 12 months, and thereafter it is £500 for each additional 6 months.

However, ISC will not be applicable if the UK employer is sponsoring someone to switch to either a Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker visa from a visa that allows them to study.

The Immigration Skills Charge has to be paid by the employer and not the foreign worker. The firm’s license may be revoked if it asks the sponsored worker to pay the fee or any costs linked to their application.

Foreign workers will find it more difficult to find employment in the UK as a result of the country’s new immigration restrictions. The White Paper on UK Immigration, introduced in May 2025, proposed several new rules that restrict foreign workers from getting jobs in the United Kingdom.

One of the key proposals was to increase the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC), which is paid by employers sponsoring skilled foreign workers and reinvested in training the domestic workforce.

The new Immigration Skills Charge will be £1,320 for the first 12 months and thereafter it is £660 for each additional 6 months.